Peach Icecream on Sunburnt Lips
by LonesomeDove
Summary: Elle is returning to Charming with a dark cloud over her head, with nowhere else to go, she returns to her fathers doorstep, and the man she left behind.
1. Part 1: Just a pretty widow

Elle was done with this life, the life her father so wanted her to live, the life he chased her out of Charming for, and now look at her, a widow with nowhere to go except back home. She knew her dad would be furious, but she had no other options.

She pulled into the familiar driveway and prayed that Gemma would be home, and not Clay, she couldn't face him right now, no, she desperately needed her stepmothers comfort instead of her fathers non stop screaming fits.

"Elle?" she jumped ten feet in the air, not noticing that someone had walked up to the car.

Once she turned to face the person, she jumped from her car and into Jax's arms, and immediately started sobbing.

Jax just stood there, shocked to see his stepsister, who had left here 4 years ago without a backwards glance. He held her in his arms while she just stood there and cried her eyes out. He noticed Gemma and Tara step out of the house, with confused looks on their faces. Until Gemma realized just who Jax was holding, then she came running.

"Elle! Oh, baby, let's get you inside. Are you ok?" Gemma said taking Elle from his arms and started herding the crying girl into the house as Tara joined him by his side.

"Jax, is that your sister Elle?" Tara asked taking his arm.

"Yeah, thats my sister." he sighed as he followed them inside.

Gemma had Elle sitting on the couch, trying to soothe her tears that had yet to stop falling, "Now come on baby, what's wrong?" Gemma asked, wiping her honey colored hair back from her face like she used to when Elle would wake up with nightmares.

Jax took a seat across from her, pulling Tara beside him. Elle finally looked up, Jax was surprised to see that her sky blue eyes still had those flecks of gold around the iris like they did when they were younger.

"I am so sorry, Jax, I didn't mean to snot all over you, I was just so overwhelmed at finally seeing you after so long." she tried to smile, but it didn't go over well with her tear stained face. "Hi, Tara, see you came back to keep my brother in line." she smiled and Tara smiled back at her

"Now Elle baby, what has gotten you all upset?" Gemma asked, Elle knew she had to tell them, or they wouldn't help her convince Clay into letting her stay.

"Well, it's kind of a long story, Gem, but I guess I have to tell you sooner or later." she took a deep breath and wiped the lone tears from her eyes. "When I left home all those years ago, I moved out to Denver, I found a nice little apartment, I opened my own herbal shop, everything was going grand. Then I met Jason Brands, oh Jax you would have loved him!" Elle started getting teary eyed again.

"We dated for two years, and then he proposed, see Gem he was a Marine, and he was about to get sent off over seas, and we both really loved each other, he told me he wanted to know he had a wife to come home to." Gemma and Jax were both so shocked to hear she was married, that they almost quit breathing.

"Well what happened Elle? Did he hit you? What's going on?" Jax was starting to get really pissed off when Elle looked up at him and smiled.

"No, he never raised a hand at me, he never got mad at me, just let me finish or I won't have the guts to." Jax nodded at her to finish the story. "He did get sent off a few months after we married, then he got to come home for two weeks about 9 months ago, and I got pregnant."

"What! Oh baby, what do you mean you were pregnant, you never called me?" Gemma started crying too.

"Well, I lost the baby, Gem, 3 weeks ago, and Jason was suppose to be coming home to be with me, well, last week his commanding officer was at my door, he had been killed in battle." Elle started crying again.

Gemma and Jax were so speechless, they could only stare at her, no wonder she came home, it seems that the life that Clay so wanted her to have ended up turning into a nightmare.

"Gemma! I'm home, have you seen your son? And who's car is that in the driveway?" Elle flinched at the sound of her fathers voice, not ready to face the inevitable.

The look on Clay's face when he rounded the corner and seen his daughter was priceless.


	2. Part 2: Give me some Faith

"Hi, Dad." Elle whispered when Clay just kept staring at her, his silence was making her shift uncomfortably.

Before anyone could try and make him come to attention, Bobby came flying into the room and grabbed Elle off the couch and pulled her into the tightest bear hug ever.

"My God girl, look at you, pretty as ever! I'm so glad your home! All the boys will be so excited to see you again, especially Half Sac, boy has been such a lost puppy!" he finally sat her back on her feet, and once again the attention went back to Clay.

He was leaning up against the door frame, arms crossed, the expression on his face was unreadable. Finally, he pushed off the wall and held his arms out, which Elle quickly ran to.

She missed the smell of her father, she remembered when she was young he always smelled of oil and smoke. It was such a weird smell, but it was something that always soothed her, cause she always knew she was safe in those arms.

He finally held her out at arms length by her shoulders and looked at her face. God, she looked just like her mother, the golden hair that fell down her back in waves, her blue eyes with gold flecks that reminded him of the ocean at sunset. She was his mess, and boy, when her and Jax get together, the world better look out cause they are nothing but chaos.

Gemma finally walked up, "Clay, why don't you come in the bedroom with me real fast? Jax, I'm sure the boys back at the garage would love to see Elle, why don't you run her down there real fast while I talk to Clay, and fix her up a room upstairs."

"Why does she need a room upstairs? She's not staying in this town." Clay turned to Gemma with that stern look on his face.

"Now hush, Jax, Elle, I'll see you soon!" Gemma started pushing Clay towards the other room.

Jax nodded at her, Elle knew what Gemma was going to do. She was going to tell Clay about her predicament, and then tell him to shove it up his ass, shes going to be staying here.

Jax, Bobby, Tara, and Elle walked out of the house as Gemma took Clay into the other room.

"So, Elly May Clampett, have you forgotten how to ride a bike?" Elle smiled at Jax's old nickname for her.

"Bullshit boy, I know how to ride a bike, that's something that you never forget, where is mine?" She asked curiously.

"Eh, we scraped it for parts, duh." Elle stopped dead in her tracks.

"You riped apart Faith?!" she looked so distraught that Jax had to laugh.

"No, we didn't scrape your bike, she's over there in the garage, are you sure you want to do this? I mean it has been awhile." Jax laughed walking over to the garage behind her.

"Jaxson Teller, you obviously don't remember me very well." She said stomping over to the garage.

Jax just laughed and opened the garage door for her.

Elle squealed with delight when she seen her 1985 Harley-Davidson FXWG 1340 Wide Glide sitting there in just the condition she left it in.

Elle remembered when she built the bike years ago, and had to cough that nasty lump of guilt from her throat when she seen his face in her head, she prayed that maybe he didn't work at the Garage anymore and she wouldn't have to face him. Only one skeleton at a time, she thought to herself.

"Does she still run good?" she asked, Jax nodded his head yes, and before Jax could do anything, Elle had jumped on, kick started it, and was out of the garage, her blonde hair blowing everywhere in the wind.

"Damnit, she's still just as fucking stupid." he said running to his bike to chase after her.


	3. Part 3: One Testicle at a Time

He was sitting in the garage, it was such a hot day he thought he might sweat to death. He was laughing at Half Sac, who was hopping around holding his foot, on the verge of tears after dropping a cinder block on it.

He heard the motorcycle pull up, but paid no attention, until Half Sac stopped hopping, Chib's stopped humming, and Tig quit snoring. He stood up and looked out the open garage door to see a red motorcycle come flying into the parking lot, a girl with blonde hair that was flying wildly around her face, she didn't have on a helmet, or anything. He thought this was odd, until she pulled the bike over and turned it off, then Jax came flying into the parking lot.

"DAMNIT ELLE, don't you know you could have wrecked and died?!"

She was laughing a high, crystalline laugh that reminded him of a nymph. Then it hit him with such a force he stumbled back, it was Elle. _His Elle. _He didn't know whether he should run and hide, or stand there and keep staring, she had definitely grown up, that much he could tell, but she was still as beautiful, if not more than what she was four years ago.

Half Sac was the first to run up and take her in his arms, he couldn't hear what all was being said, but she couldn't quit smiling, he wiped a hand across his face and sighed heavily as the rest of the guys ran out to hug her.

"Hey man, you ok?" Opie asked, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah man, just so fucking hot, want a beer?" Opie just nodded his head, he wasn't stupid. Opie knew that he couldn't handle going over there, hell Opie had grown up with her just as much as the rest of them, but he was like a brother to Elle, but ever since Donnas death, he was a hermit just like he was after Elle left. He didn't say another word, just headed towards the club to get a beer.

Elle was laughing as Half Sac told her all about his nut transplant, she couldn't help but laugh at him, though it looked like it broke his heart. "Oh, c'mon Half Sac, you don't need two balls, your man enough to be able to reproduce with only one! All the other men need two to actually be able to get a woman pregnant, but not you!" Half Sac didn't know what to say, but the other guys were laughing so hard that he had to join in.

Elle turned to face the garage, and there he was.

_Jean Carlos Ortiz. Her Juice. _

He was staring at her with a look of pain on his face, she seen Opie walk up to him and say something, and they both walked off, her smile faltering around the edges.

Jax watched as Elle forced her smile to stick on her face after Juice walked off, he knew it hurt her. Hell, he watched it rip Juice apart for what felt like ages. He never thought the boy would be able to recover when she left, he never really thought about Elle, she did leave him. Juice had recited exactly what she said to him that day, word for word, and Jax wondered why she even really cared if he didn't want to talk to her.

They walked into the bar, Chibs had butted into the conversation and they were now discussing where she had been, she wasn't really into telling the boys about her life in Denver, so she just gave them a short clipped version, leaving out everything about her marriage and miscarriage. She didn't want the boys to know.

She kept glancing at Juice, but he stood behind the bar, looking straight ahead refusing to even look at her. She deserved it, she knew, she would deserve it even more if he knew about her life in Denver. She did break his heart, but she did what she had to do, and now look at her, back to where she started.


	4. Part 4: Devil at Our Heels

Once Elle was sure that Jax was more into his game of pool than he was about her still sitting at the barstool, she slipped out of the clubhouse. She glanced back to see if anyone had noticed, and once she was satisfied with the answer that she hadn't been spotted she ran over to her bike. She grabbed Jax's helmet as she pushed her bike out onto the street and then kick started it and sped off.

She ended up in the same place she always used to go to clear her head, it was the last place she stopped before she high tailed it out of Charming, Get Lucky Hill, the place where all the high school kids go to try and get laid. This place held so many memories of her old life, she almost got teary eyed as she stared down on the tiny town of Charming, and it was so pretty from up here.

She heard the bike pull up behind the rock that she was sitting on, but she ignored it, she knew it was probably Jax coming up here to bitch at her for sneaking out.

"Hey kid." The familiar voice said as the engine died.

"Hey Op." she smiled as Opie came over to sit beside her on the large boulder.

The boulder over looked the actual parking spot for the kiddies, she laughed at the memory. "Opie, do you remember when me, you, and Jax would hide up here and shoot all those kids with bb guns right as they got the girl naked?"

Opie laughed, "How could I forget? Unser would always be the one to come take us home, after taking our guns of course, then my old man would box my ears, and we would be right back here again the next night, just to run like the devil was at our heels when Unser would show up."

Elle laughed her high crystalline laugh that all the boys at the club melted over and then they both got quiet and just stared down at Charming in silence. Opie knew that Elle couldn't stay quiet for more than 5 minutes at a time when she had something on her mind, and she was up here on what he called her 'troubled rock'. This is where Opie always found her when she disappeared, and he knew this is the only place in the world she would go to try and sort out her demons.

"Opie?" she said barely above a whisper.

"Yeah, kid?" he looked over at her and noticed the silent tears trailing down her face.

"Do you ever wish you could just go back to our younger days? When we could get away with anything? Because we were 'the generation', the kids that would grow up to take over SAMCRO, so all the people of Charming respected us, knew us, and tried to keep us out of trouble. Piney used to tell me all the time that I was going to grow up to be the first female leader of SAMCRO just to piss you and Jax off all the time." She giggled and sniffled at the same time.

"Why'd you leave, Elle?" he had to know, she didn't just leave Juice behind, she left her family, and he could have really used her when Donna was killed.

"Because, growing up, the thought of being a girl in SAMCRO was an awesome idea to me, then I guess, once I got older the idea of being a biker whore didn't seem that amazing anymore." She shrugged at Opie when he gave her a questioning look. "Look Opie, you want the truth?"

He nodded at her and she sighed heavily. "Dad always thought that once I got old enough, that I would get the hell out of this town and do bigger and better things with my life. He never wanted this life for me, ever. When he started to realize that I was falling for one of the boys, he threw a fit." She looked down at her hands and let the tears free flow down her face. "Dad finally told me what really happened to my mom, apparently she didn't die in some bike accident, she was shot, because my dad couldn't uphold his end of a deal. He didn't want me to end up like her, and so he made me leave. I told him that I would run away with Juice and elope, that I loved the boy. Which of course, only pissed him off more, he threatened to have Juice shot if I didn't leave right then and there, telling Juice some lie to break his heart and he wouldn't follow me." She smiled and looked up at Opie, " I guess Juice told you everything I said to him, so I understand why he hates me, but I had to tell him something, Op."

Opie was completely speechless.


	5. Part 5: Sharpened Talons

Jax was biting his thumb, like he always did when he was starting to get worried, he was still at the club, staring at gate waiting on Elle to show up, or at least Gemma call and tell her that she came home. He knew Opie was with her, wherever she was, but it was already eleven o'clock. They had been gone for a good 5 hours.

Juice was still sitting behind the bar, taking down beers like it was bottles of water. He was watching Jax pace around the club watching the gate as if at any moment it would get up and run away. He sighed to himself, "Jax, she's probably just out uncovering old roots, and anyway, she's with Opie, plus your walking a path into the floor, and I just really don't want to fix it."

Jax spun around to yell at him, but before he could get a word out the Devil herself walked into the bar, "Hey Jax." She smiled all cutesy at him and Jax just growled at her before stomping over to the bar and pouring himself a shot.

"Gee, act like you haven't seen me in four years will ya?" she giggled, as she took the bar stool beside Jax and grabbed his beer. Opie gave Juice a look, "Be easy." He mouthed, but Juice acted like he didn't understand.

Within a few hours, Elle had taken quite a few shots of Jack and was on her 9th..or was it 10th beer? She couldn't remember, she just knew she was having fun in the first time in forever. The bar had already gained a large crowd, mostly including the guys and the whores that came around just to be able to say they fucked a Crow.

Elle had already decided that she was tired of sitting still, and then some song came across the juke box that had a decent tune, and she grabbed the already drunk Half Sac off his barstool and dragged him into a little space that wasn't being occupied by the whores dancing with each other trying to attract the attention of the boys. Instantly she started moving her body to the beat, laughing and giggling as her and Half Sac were using each other as crutches to keep from falling down, but in the end they were doing a pretty good job at dancing, she thought.

The song finally ended and as they sat there laughing, some big burly man butted in, he had a blonde girl hiding behind his large figure. "Hey you, my sister wants to dance." He growled at Half Sac, he just glanced at me wondering what the hell to do.

"Well, darling, he's dancing with me, so tell your sister to find someone else to dance with." Before the man could react, the little blonde girl came flying out from behind her 'brother' and came at Elle's face, sharpened claws aimed for her eyes.

Elle stepped to the side and the girl fell into the table, by then, they had attracted the whole bar's attention, she could see Jax and Opie heading her way, but the little girl wasn't finished.

She jumped up and swung at Elle's face, barely clipping her nose, Elle just stepped out of her way again. Finally the little girl stopped and looked at her, "Wait a minute." She looked up at Elle with brown eyes that Elle had sworn she had seen before. "What are you doing here? Jason's only been dead, what, two weeks and you're already a biker whore? Good thing you did lose that baby, God only knows who the dad was anyway."

The bar went silent, Elle stared at the girl in shock, then it hit her all at once, this was Jason's ex girlfriend, Jessica. The girl stared up at Elle's shocked expression with an amused smile on her face, but before she could even blink, Elle punched her in the mouth.

Then she just started wailing on Jessica, she heard Jax yelling at her to stop, and she felt someone pulling on her arms, but she didn't care. She hated this girl, this girl was the one that Jason always came home late over, she always knew Jason cheated on her with Jessica, but she overlooked it, in the end, Elle thought she was winning, and then this bitch just had to show up and rain all over her parade.

Finally she was yanked off the crying bleeding girl in the floor and was being held back. "Elle! Listen to me! Calm the FUCK down!" Jax was holding her face between his hands trying to make her look at him. Out of the corner of her eye she seen the faces of all the boys, she knew they had heard everything that Jessica had said, and they all had looks of cluelessness and curiosity on their faces, all except Juice, who had turned his back to her and was walking out of the bar.

Elle started crying and jerked out of Tig's arms, "I'm just going to go upstairs." With that she spit at Jessica's feet and headed towards Jax's old room upstairs.

Elle just can't win for losing.


	6. Part 6: Scars for the Crow

Elle woke up with the worst hangover she's had since she was 16, the room was still spinning and she was laying in a pool of drool that she had managed to leave on the pillow under her head. She laid there for a moment more before she looked over at the clock and realized it was only 8am. She sighed heavily as she sat up and looked around.

She managed to make it into Jax's room last night, so that was an accomplishment, and she made it halfway onto the bed, another accomplishment. She really needed to take a shower, and Jax's bathroom was adjoined with someone else's, but she figured it was so early nobody would be awake. So she slipped from the bed and checked Jax's drawers looking for some sort of clothes that she could borrow until she could make it back to Gemma's, but as hungover as she was, there was no way she was riding her bike back there yet.

She found a pair of Jax's jeans and one of his white tank tops and sat them on the bed, she walked into the bathroom and the other bedroom door was locked from the other side, so she left the clothes on the bed and walked into the shower.

The hot water instantly made her feel better, the room quit spinning and her stomach quit rolling. She just stood under the water for what felt like hours before the water finally started getting cold and she turned it off and stepped out.

She dried her hair till it quit dripping and then she just wrapped the towel around her and went to stand in front of the mirror, using some of the mouth wash she found there. As she was spitting it out the other door unlocked and opened.

Juice stood there, still half asleep, wearing nothing but his boxers. He snapped awake when he realized that Elle was standing there in nothing but a towel, her mouth hanging open as she continued to stare at him like a deer caught in headlights.

"Uh...sorry." he said turning around, as he was about to shut the door he heard her voice.

"You can come on in, I'm almost done, and it's not like you haven't seen any of this before."

He stood there for a minute, he knew for his own sake he should just walk back into his room and shut the door until he was sure she had walked out, but he couldn't resist the urge. He walked back into the bathroom, grabbing his tooth brush he started brushing his teeth while watching her out of the corner of his eye.

She was pulling her underwear on underneath the towel, then she reached for her bra, he watched as she had her back to him as she let the towel drop and put it on. When she turned back around he about choked on his toothpaste. In the middle of her chest she still had her crow tattoo, he for sure thought that when she left she would have it removed, but no, right in between her breasts was a black crow. _"I'll always keep you near my heart." _He remembered her saying that when she first got it, Clay was so mad he threatened to burn it off of her himself, but he'd never do anything to harm Elle, and she knew that.

He also noticed the nasty scar that went from her belly button and disappeared into the top of her underwear, must be from the miscarriage that the one girl mentioned last night.

Elle was completely oblivious to his staring, but she snapped her head up when Juice started coughing. Juice was still staring at her, noticing that she had a beautiful body, that's when he seen the wedding band that was still on her finger, she had just switched hands. He started choking.

"Juice, are you ok?" she whispered taking a step to him, he covered his mouth and kept coughing. She started patting his back and he jumped back from her.

She stood there just looking at him with wide eyes, full of hurt. He never wanted to hurt her, but he wasn't going to fall back into that trap, he knew better.

She apparently didn't love him anymore, so why should he care, she ran off and got married, was in the works of having a baby, she made up her own mind.

Elle just kept staring at him, he had quit coughing, but he was still staring at her like she was some sort of disease, she was pretty sure she deserved it, but it still hurt.

She finally grabbed the towel out of the floor and walked back into Jax's room and shut the door, Juice heard it lock and he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He knew he should probably say something to her, she looked so upset as she left the room, but he was not falling back down into that rabbit hole, there was no way he'd survive that again when she left.

He growled at himself as he turned on the shower and jumped in.


	7. Part 7: Love Hate Heartbreak

Elle had never left Juice's mind the entire time he was in the shower, he hated this, he really wished she would pack up and head out and soon. Otherwise, he's going to keep hurting her, and it killed him every time he did.

The look that crossed her face when he jumped back from her was something that would be forever etched into his brain, just like the day she left him was. Except he had been able to push that memory into the back of his head, but now that she was back, it opened all sorts of flood gates.

_Juice was lying in his bed, arms behind his head, the smile permanently stuck to his face ever since he got back from the jewelry shop. He had the perfect ring for Elle, and any minute now, she would be here. Today was the day that their lives would change forever. _

_ He heard her footsteps coming down the hall and he sat up and waited on her to come in the door. When she opened the door, his heart sank. She had been crying, her eyes were still bloodshot and her nose red. _

_ "We're over." Those words were barely audible above the sound of his pounding heart. She turned to walk back out the door, but he jumped up and grabbed her arm. _

_ "Just wait, what do you mean we're over? You have to give me a reason, Elle, we've been together for 3 years, you can't just walk out on me." His voice was getting raspy. _

_ "You don't want to even hear it, you can't handle what I have to say." She was crying again. _

_ "No, damn it Elle, you can't fucking do this! You can't say that you don't love me! I know you do! You even got that tattoo for me!" He was yelling back at her, but he couldn't stop, he felt everything falling down around him. _

_ "I don't love you! I have never loved you! I hate this place, I'm better than some biker SLUT, you don't deserve me and I deserve better, your just a piece of trash that your own family didn't want, I need some stability in my life, not you!" she was fighting the tears so hard, but was only sobbing so hard it felt as if her ribs were breaking. _

_ Juice grabbed her arms and made her look at him, "I want you to look me in the eyes and tell me that you don't love me, and that all of this was a lie. Tell me, Elle, and I'll let you walk right out that door." _

_ He seen the conflict in her eyes, but at that moment, he didn't comprehend it. She bit her lip and then slowly lifted her head to stare him straight in the eye. She had the coldest look that he had ever seen in her blue eyes, then without even the slightest quiver in her voice she said, "I don't love you. We had a fun ride, but all of this, us, was just something to keep me company. Sorry." _

_ Juice felt his heart shatter, he let go of her arms, and she ran from the room sobbing. The thought to chase her down was evident, but she didn't love him, so it would have been useless. Jax found him a few hours later laying on the bed. _

"_Dude, where the hell is Elle?" _

_ Juice just looked at him, he felt as if his heart was just going to stop beating, "She's gone, man." _

_ "What do you mean gone? Did you not propose?" Jax walked over and sat down on the foot of the bed. Juice then proceeded to tell him everything that happened. _

_ Jax was completely speechless. _

Juice walked downstairs in search of a bottle of water when he spotted her. She was sitting on her motorcycle, she had her head back and was soaking in the sunlight with a small smile on her face. She was absolutely beautiful in every way, he blonde hair falling in waves down her back, the clothes she had on were way too big, but somehow she still managed to look gorgeous in it. He remembered her blue eyes, the way they used to look at him when she would say she loved him.

"I'm in so much fucking shit." He mumbled running a hand over his face as he turned to grab an extra bottle of water and walked outside.

Elle was enjoying the bright sunshine beating down on her face, she was giving her stomach a little bit longer to recover from her hangover before she tried to ride her bike back to Gemma's.

"Hey." Elle about fell off her bike when the voice came from right beside her, never hearing him walk up. She opened her eyes to stare into Juice's brown eyes.

"Uh, I'm just getting ready to leave." She mentally smacked herself in the head.

"Oh, well here, you better wear a helmet." He handed her his helmet then turned to start walking away. As she flipped it over to toss it on her head, she noticed all of the condoms stashed in it.

Feeling an overwhelming anger shoot through her, knowing he probably did this as payback, she hauled the helmet at his head. The helmet ended up whacking him in the back and he turned around speechless, "Here honey, I can't have kids, so I won't need these." She yelled as she tossed the condoms at his feet and shot off on her bike.

Juice just covered his face with his hands and grumbled loudly.

"Bet they're back together in 2 weeks." Bobby said watching the aggravated Juice pick up his helmet off the parking lot.

"You're totally on!" Half Sac grinned.


	8. Part 8: Dismantle Me

Elle walked into the garage a few days later with a smile plastered on her face, she couldn't wait to tell Gemma the great news!

She threw the office door open so fast she almost took Bobby out with it, "Heh, oops, sorry Bobby I didn't see you there." She said with her hands over her mouth, her face bright red.

He laughed, "It's ok, Elle, you would have just given me an excuse to go home early." He said as he winked at her before walking out of the office and shutting the door behind him.

"Hey baby, what are you in such a rush for?" Gemma said not looking up from the papers scattered across her desk.

"I GOT THE SHOP!" Elle exclaimed while jumping up and down.

"OH! Baby that is so great!" Gemma said jumping up to hug her.

"Oh Gemma, I'm so excited, I'm having my friend back in Denver to send me most of my stuff, and Charming is going to have its own little herbal shop! _Elle's Botanicals._Oh, its going to be so great, I'll be able to move out of your house in a matter of weeks! Oh, Gemma, I'm just too exited!"

Gemma just sat on the edge of the desk and listened to the overly excited Elle ramble on and on about her shop, "So, when do you plan on telling Clay? And you also know that you need to give me a grand opening date, so we can throw you a party!"

The shop opened up a lot faster then Elle had planned, and with the first day she had almost the whole town of Charming waiting outside to come in and support her.

Tara had taken the day off to help her, and they both were standing there staring at the large group of people waiting on her to unlock the door. "Here we go!" Tara said hugging her before reaching over and unlocking the door for her.

The day went by extremely fast, and both Tara and Elle were exhausted. She had sold most of her products and made enough money to buy a house that night if she wanted to. She smiled at Jax as he walked in, the bell on the door making a welcoming ding.

"So Bill Gates, how do you feel?" Jax said as he walked over and threw his arm around Tara's shoulders as she finished sweeping.

"Well, I feel like I could use a long hot bath, some chocolates, and maybe, just maybe, a cigar." She said winking at him, "but Tara, you can totally leave anytime you want now, I just want to do a quick inventory before I head out. Thank you so much, for everything."

They exchanged quick hugs before they walked out the door, and once Elle was sure they were gone, she plugged her iPod into the dock, then with one more quick glance to the door, turned on P!nk, and started singing along to Heartbreaker.

She had walzed to the back and was singing and dancing while counting everything down, so as she was really getting into her booty shaking, the cough that came from behind her scared her so bad she dropped the clipboard, and fell backwards into the shelf holding bottles of shampoo.

"Oh shit, Elle, I didn't mean to scare you."

As Elle stood there trying to slow her heart rate, she stared at the dimples that she knew well in her childhood, "David Hale?"

"Deputy Chief David Hale now." He smiled that dimply grin at her and she felt herself blush.

"Well what can I do you for, Deputy?" she said as she bent down to get her clipboard.

He took a step forward, holding his hat in his hands looking extremely young. "Well ma'am, I seem to have a problem sleeping, you see I heard this girl that I've had a crush on since I was well 4 came back into town, and I've been up for hours on end trying to think of a way to ask her out on a date."

Elle stood up and smiled at him before reaching for a small box on the top shelf and tossing it to the man standing before her that looked like a 13 year old boy waiting for a reply to the girl he just asked to the dance.

"Chamomile?" he shot her a questioning look.

"Yes, Deputy, spoon some of that in a hot cup of tea, and you'll be passed out before you know it. " she started to walk out, "Oh, and I'm free tomorrow at noon if you'd like to go grab a milkshake." Then she walked on out.


	9. Part 9: Never Less Than Fucking Perfect

Elle sat across from David as she sucked down her strawberry milkshake, trying to decide.

"Ok Elle, you've been staring at me with those furrowed brows for almost 10 minutes, so just spit it out already." He laughed as he took a swig of his rootbeer float.

"Well….Ok, well, Gemma is throwing me a 'Grand Opening' party tonight, but I know how you feel about the Sons, so I'm just trying to decide on whether or not it would be a good idea to invite you."

David sat back in his seat and looked at her, "Are you asking me to be your date, ma'am?"

Elle smirked, "Well I was considering it, but I can't have some cop showing up and ruining my party with that thing called the law you know."

David smiled, "Well, Ellie Mae, I would be honored to be your date tonight, I'll wear actual clothes and everything."

Elle smiled brightly at him, "Great, uhm, pick me up from my shop at 7 ok?" she said as she stood up to walk back to the store and finish up.

"Will do, ma'am." He smiled at her as he watched her walk out.

Elle was in the stores back bathroom fixing her hair when Tara knocked on the door. Elle reached over and unlocked it then went back to pulling her hair up into a tight pony tail and curling the ends. "So, you have a date, huh?" Tara said leaning up against the door frame.

"Yeah, do you think I look too bad?" she said as she turned and faced Tara.

Tara examined her closely, she had added a small amount of pink lipgloss, a touch of pale yellow eyeshadow, and had on some dangling silver earrings. The dress she was wearing looked beautiful on her, it was a white sundress, with lace looking designs on it. "You look gorgeous, babe. Now, do I get the pleasure of knowing who your date is before he shows up at the door?" Tara said smiling.

"Uhm, it's David….Hale." she said as she turned back around to face the mirror quickly.

"DEPUTY David Hale? Elle, you know that's not going to end well with him showing up, the boys hate him!"

"Tara, please, it'll be ok, you'll see." The bell above the door ringing saved her from further conversation as she guessed it was David walking in.

She walked by Tara and walked out to see David standing there in some faded denim jeans and a red and black plaid shirt. Elle smiled, he looked almost too handsome. "I'm on time right?" he said looking at his wrist watch.

"Yes, you're on time." She said as she walked over and laced her arm with his, "See you in a little bit Tara." She called back as they walked out the door.

Her arriving with the Deputy went a little worse than she had expected. Clay had stalked over to the bar and just stared, well actually, all the boys were just staring at her with mean looks, she almost felt like she should just leave her own party, until David grabbed her hand and squeezed, which gave her a little bit of courage.

Just then Jax walked up and pulled her into a bear hug, "Are you enjoying your party, Sis?" she just smiled an almost tear filled smile at him before Jax turned to David, she heard everyone in there hold their breathes, "Well hello Hale, glad you could make it, make sure you take care of Elle." He glanced at her, "God knows she needs someone to keep her out of trouble." He then shook Davids hand and walked over to the bar to get a drink. Elle instantly felt so much better, and even better when David took her in the middle of the room to dance with her.

"What the fuck was that about?" Clay exclaimed at Jax.

"Look Clay, if she's going to date someone in this town, I think the best way to keep her safe is if she's dating Hale, plus, maybe if he gets Sheriff, he'll give us some leeway like Unser does. Just get over yourself, and help Elle have a good time. This is HER party you know." Jax said as he pulled Tara out there beside Elle and Hale to dance.

"You know, he's actually right, this may help us more than hurt us." Clay said grinning.


	10. Part 10: I Won't Be Your Winter

Elle was sitting on a wooden stool behind the cash register reading a book and twirling a piece of hair around her finger when the bell above the door rang as someone came walking in. She was too engrossed in her book to really care who is was so she waved her hand and smiled as she kept reading, she figured it was probably just one of her regulars.

"Hello Miss."

Annoyed Elle looked up into the faces of men she had never seen before, the one guy that had spoken to her was dressed in what looked like a very expensive tailored suit with gray hair, and the other man stood behind him with his arms crossed. Elle didn't like the look of him, she spent more time looking at him, he reminded Elle of a rat, with black beady eyes and a grim expression on his face, she also noticed a tattoo on his throat but he was too far away for her to tell what it really was. So she turned her attention back to the older gentleman and smiled.

"Hi, what can I do for you today?"

The man gave Elle a smirk that she didn't really like and said, "Well, my name is Ethan Zobelle and I just opened a cigar shop right across the street from you. Thought I would do the nice neighborly thing by coming over here and introducing myself to the beautiful girl that owns this shop."

Elle gave him an uneasy smile, something about these guys we're giving her a real uneasy feeling. "My names Elle Morrow, I didn't seem to catch your name." Elle shook Zobelles hand and then stuck her hand out for the other man to see if she could get him closer to see his tattoo on his throat.

The man stared at her hand like it was infected before he stepped forward and shook it, "Name is AJ Weston." It was then Elle got a really good look at it. It was a Nordic ruin which represented white power and it was then that she had the feeling that these men weren't here to buy herbal tea from her.

Elle sat back down on the stool and put her hands on her knees so that she could reach her pistol that she had under the register and looked at them, waiting to hear what they needed to say so they would hurry up and get out of her shop.

"I can tell by the look on your face that you know we are not here to buy anything from you." Elle just nodded her head at Zobelle as her answer. "Good, then we can get straight to business. I am a member of LOAN, The League of American Nationalists, and we would like to you to tell your father that he needs to quit selling guns to the..well other races if you catch my meaning."

Elle sat there for a minute to make sure that he was done before she leaned forward and laid her hand on the pistol, while bringing the other one up and resting her head on it as she leaned onto the register. "Well Mr. Zobelle, I hate to disappoint you, but my father owns a garage, he doesn't deal guns. He's an honest man, so I think you have my father mistaken for someone else, now if you gentlemen don't mind I need to close for lunch." Elle stood, deciding to just leave her gun under the register and she waved her arm towards the door.

Ethan then gave Weston a look she didn't comprehend, "Well, my apologizes then. You have a nice day now." Then they both turned and walked out of the door, Elle quickly walked around and locked it before she walked into the back of the store and fell to her knees. The knot in her throat felt like it was going to suffocate her and the turning of her stomach made her feel like she was going to be sick.

She put her hand over her mouth and sat there trying to calm her heart beat when the back door opened. She quickly jerked her head around to see Juice carrying some boxes in. He stopped when he looked at her and sat the boxes down and hurried over to her.

"Elle? Are you ok, what happened, what's wrong?" He laid his hand on her shoulder and realized that she was shaking. He seen the tears start to form in her eyes and he put his arm under her legs and picked her up and carried her to the bathroom and sat her down on the toilet. He turned around and grabbed some paper towels and wet them with cold water and put it on the back of her neck as she sat there staring at the floor.

"Elle, please tell me what happened? You're freaking me out, should I call Gemma?"

He went to stand up when she screamed, "No!" and grabbed his wrist and made him look at her.

Juice stared down at her pale blue eyes and seen the tear spill over, he reached down and wiped it away with his thumb as her lip quivered. When he pulled his hand back she looked away and pulled the wet clothes off her neck and wiped her face and tossed them in the trashcan. "Don't tell anybody about this, please."

"About what? You haven't told me anything, Elle." She walked out of the bathroom.

"Exactly." Juice wiped his hand across his face and watched her pull her long hair into a bun and walk back out into the store.


	11. Part 11: Where is My Mind?

Juice pulled up to the garage, the image of Elle from earlier that day still bothering him, playing over and over in his head. The look of fear on her face was gnawing at him, telling him that he was missing something, he just couldn't figure out what. He knew something had to have happened to scare her that way, but he had no idea what.

He took his helmet off and sat it on the handlebars of his bike and looked over and noticed Elle's car parked a few spaces down. He walked up to the clubhouse to see if she was there.

"Hey Juice, what are you doing?" Bobby bellowed over the game of pool that he and Tig were playing.

"Nothing, just going to head on to bed, long day today." He said rubbing the back of his neck and started walking up the stairs to his room. Jax's door to his old room was shut, and the light was shining out from underneath it, so he guessed that's where Elle was. He just shook his head and walked on to his room and shut the door.

He really needed a shower, so he kicked his boots off and tossed his shirt into the dirty hamper before walking to the door leading to the bathroom, he pressed his ear to it to see if Elle was in there, when he didn't hear anything he opened the door and peeked in, empty. So he walked across the room and turned on the hot water before he shut his door.

He walked back over and checked the temperature of the water before he turned on the shower and took off the rest of his clothes and climbed in. He thought that maybe the hot water would help him forget, take his mind off of everything, but no luck, he stood there thinking of those blue eyes that haunted him.

Then the flashbacks started and he put his hands on the wall of the shower and held his head under the hot water, closing his eyes trying not to think about it, but it wouldn't stop. Her smile, her laugh, her touch, her kiss, her voice, everything about that girl was perfect and damn it all, he still loved her with every inch of his body. He drew one hand back and punched the wall out of frustration. "Fuck" he mumbled under his breath, before he reached down and turned the water off.

He flung the shower curtain back and stepped out into the steam filled room, he grabbed the towel that was hanging there and wrapped it around his waist before walking over to the mirror. He wiped the condensation off with his hand and stared at himself in the mirror, watching as the steam was slowly making it fog back up again.

That's when he heard it, that tiny sob come from Jax's room. He straightened up and listened, and then he could tell that she was in there crying. He quickly finished drying himself off then pulled on the clean boxers and sweat pants he had carried in there before softly tapping on the door. He heard her moving around then she said "Come in"

He slowly opened the door and stuck his head in, Elle was sitting in the middle of the bed with her head down staring at her hands that were lying in her lap. She was wearing some plaid pajama pants and a black tank top, her hair still damp from the shower she probably took before he got home.

"Hey, you ok?" He asked while gingerly taking a step inside the door, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms.

Elle half laughed, half sobbed, "I don't suppose I am." She said with another one of those laughs, then she took the tissue she had in her hand and wiped her nose before she looked up at him.

Juice's heart stopped, her eyes were bloodshot from all the crying, her face swollen and red, it looked like she'd been crying for hours. He was fighting a war with himself on whether or not to go hold her, but he knew to protect himself from getting hurt again that he needed to keep his distance, so he just grabbed the desk chair that was beside him and pulled it up to the foot of the bed.

"What's wrong?" he asked leaning on his knees and looking into those bloodshot eyes.

He didn't think she was going to answer, then finally she started talking so softly that he had to lean closer to hear her. "I was taking some lunch to David today, just to surprise him. Well I was the one that walked out surprised." She sniffled and turned the corner of her mouth up in a half smile before looking back down at her hands, "I opened the door to his office, he had some FBI bitch on the desk railing the hell out of her."

That made Juice sit back, "Are you serious?"

Then he realized that she started crying again, "What's wrong with me Juice? What did I do to deserve this? I mean, I can't keep a guy happy, I can't even have a baby. I just don't understand what my problem is." She started crying harder and hid her face in her hands.

Juice sat there staring at her, her shoulders shaking with her sobs. He finally said fuck it and got up and sat down on the bed beside her and pulled her into his chest. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, "Elle, there is nothing wrong with you. You are perfect, beautiful, and the best woman that I know. Things happen for a reason, reasons that have nothing to do with you, they just happen. Remember what they say, it can't rain all the time, right?"

He felt her giggle, "Brandon Lee, my favorite movie of all time."

Juice smiled as he started running his hand through her hair, he had forgotten how silky smooth it was, then he felt a tear hit his chest and start running down. "Oh God, look at me, snotting all over you." She said sitting up and wiping his chest off with her bare hand, he felt the goose bumps raise all over his skin, making his hair stand on its end.

Elle noticed it and crawled off his lap and sat further away from him on the bed. He watched as she wiped the remaining tears off her face with the back of her hand. "Please don't tell anybody about this. The last thing that needs to happen around here is have everyone ready to kill a deputy."

Juice stood up off the bed and started walking back to the bathroom door, "I won't tell, I promise. Night Elle." Then he shut the door behind him and went back to his room, crawled under his covers and just stared at the ceiling. He was going to have to talk to Clay tomorrow about a transfer, he couldn't keep doing this to himself…


	12. Part 12: The Weakness in Me

Juice had just begun to doze off when he heard his bathroom door creak open. He rolled over and looked to see Elle standing there wringing her hands and looking at her feet.

He quickly sat up, "What's wrong?"

He went to throw his covers off and stand up before she stopped him, "Nothing's wrong…I…well I can't sleep…I was wondering if maybe I could lay in here with you for a little while?"

Juice's mouth fell open and he just stared at her. After a few minutes of silence she finally turned around, "I didn't think so…I'm sorry I woke you up."

When she went to walk back into the bathroom Juice finally regained his senses and jumped up from the bed and grabbed her arm and turned her back around. She stood there looking up at him, the moonlight shone from the tears running down her face. Just like before he reached up and wiped them away with his thumb and she let her eyes close as he did.

Juice felt like there was a wad of gum lodged in his throat, so he tried to swallow it before he spoke. "C'mon, I'll sleep in the floor." He turned to walk to the closet to grab an extra blanket.

"Will you hold me for a little while?" he barely heard her whisper this and he stood with his back to her and tried to fight his rapid heartbeat.

"Sure," he waited till she walked past him and crawled in under the covers before he took a deep breath and crawled in beside her.

He laid down on his back and pulled the covers up on his waist and waited for her move. For a few minutes he thought that maybe she'd changed her mind. Then slowly she scooted over to where her body was touching his, and then she laid her head on his chest and then slowly laid her hand on his stomach.

Juice closed his eyes, he knew that she could hear his heart pounding through his ribcage, but to feel this touch, to feel like this, he would risk getting hurt all over again. This feeling of love, the feel of her hand touching him, the feel of her soft hair on his chest, nothing compared to this, he could go his whole life and never find another girl to make him feel like this, so he decided right then and there, that he was going to enjoy this as long as he could before she disappeared again, and he would deal with the pain that came along with it.

He picked his hand up and laid it on top of hers, then wrapped his other arm around her and held her close.

"Juice?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry…for leaving…for hurting you."

Juice laid there for a minute, rubbing his hand up and down her arm. "Why'd you leave Elle? I've played it over and over in my head, and every time I can never figure out what I did wrong to push you away."

"I can't give you the answer you want or deserve…" she whispered into his chest.

That was it, he stood up from the bed and looked at her confused face looking up at him from the bed. "No, Elle, I can't do this. You can't even give me an answer as to why you left, and I'm sure you're going to leave again, so you can't do this to me again. Don't make me fall back in love with you just for you to leave again without a valid reason, it's not fair to me Elle. I didn't find anyone else when you left, I didn't get _married_ or try to start a _family_, I stood here in misery while _you_ were off starting a new life. So please, if you can't give me an answer that I can understand, please go." He waved his arm to the bathroom door.

Elle sat there for a minute before standing up and starting to walk past him, Juice could feel himself shaking and he wouldn't look at her.

He heard her step into the bathroom, then she softy spoke, "If it makes you feel any better, I regretted leaving every single day that I was gone…I got married hoping that one day, I would love him as much as I loved you…I let him get me pregnant in hopes that it would help soothe the pain in my heart, the pain that something was missing…It wasn't until I came home that I realized what I was missing…was you." With that she shut the door behind her and left Juice standing there.

Elle leaned against the closed bathroom door and closed her eyes. Her heart was breaking, she knew that much, she'd felt it break like this before. She slowly let herself slide into the floor before she buried her face in her hands and started to silently cry.

She heard Juice mumble something and then she heard him throw something against the wall. She understood his pain, he was right. She had to stop hurting him…leading him on. She was broken, used up. She couldn't give him the life he wanted, she couldn't make him happy, and she couldn't go on if she found him cheating on her, she wouldn't survive it.

Elle finally stood up, splashed cold water on her face and crawled back into Jax's bed. She set her alarm for 7am, before any of the other guys would be awake. She hoped to sneak out and to her shop so that she wouldn't have to face any of them, especially Juice. They were having a huge party here tomorrow night, and she decided that she'd make an excuse to have to do inventory at the shop late. Yeah, that's what she'd do.


	13. Part 13: He Showed Me What it Was to Cry

"Where the hell is Elle?" Jax asked Gemma when she walked into the bar.

"Oh, she called a little bit ago and said she had to do inventory at the store, and that she'll try and hurry to make it here before everyone passes out."

Jax nodded his head and took a drink from his beer, Juice did the same. He knew that Elle wouldn't be here until she was sure that everyone was asleep, she had snuck out early this morning and he knew it was because of him.

Just think Half Sac came running into the bar, "You guys get out here now!"

Juice and Jax jumped up and ran outside. There was a small group of men they hadn't seen before talking to Clay and Gemma. They man with gray hair laughed and said something before they turned and got back into their cars and pulling away.

"What the hell was that about?" Jax asked as Clay walked up to them.

Clay just laughed, "Ethan Zobelle, white supremacist, came here to 'warn' us not to trade to the other races around here. Then 'threatened' that I would regret it when I told him no. Please, that man is about as scary as the Easter bunny, let's get back to the partying!" he bellowed and headed back to the table with liquor on it.

…

Elle was sitting in the back of the store on an unopened box of soap with her head resting against the wall. She took a deep breath in and let it out in a sigh, just a few more hours, she thought and then she could go home and get in bed. She had already turned the lights off in the front of the store, so she was just buying time till she could slip back into the clubhouse and get some well needed sleep.

Just then a cough came from the back door, she snapped her eyes open and there stood four men in ski masks staring at her.

Elle jumped up and fell backwards into a shelf, knocking over bottles of shampoo and conditioners. They started laughing at her, Elle knew that she had to get to the front of the store to her gun. She stood there for a minute before turning and she took off, as soon as she got to the door she felt one of them grab her arm, she instinctively threw her other arm back and connected her elbow with his head. The man's grip loosened and she yanked with all her might, throwing herself off balance when he let go. She fell to the floor, her face slapping against the hard tile. A burst of light flashed and then she tried to crawl to get away from them, one guy came running up behind her and she kicked back, she heard a sick snapping sound and the man started screaming.

Elle tried to get to her feet only to have another man grab both her arms and haul her up. She struggled, but the man threw her across the room into the wooden shelves. They crashed to the floor, a sharp pain riding up her side. She laid there and started coughing, the man that threw her walked up to her, picked her up, and threw her into the other shelves.

Elle felt her arm snap when she landed and she cried out, her whole body was screaming at her, but she knew if she gave up, these men would kill her. So with her one arm she started crawling as fast as she could towards the register.

"I don't think so, little girl." He grabbed a handful of her hair and lifted her onto her feet, then slung her on top of the register, then wrapping his rough hands around her throat. Elle clawed and clawed with her one hand, the other arm wouldn't cooperate, but she wouldn't give up.

The man's grip just tightened around her throat, she could feel the blood rushing to her head, and she couldn't breathe. She could feel herself start to lose consciousness, and right before everything went black, she thought of Clay, Gemma, Jax, and then Juice.

…..

It was just a little bit after 1am when the two cop cars pulled into the parking lot of the garage, everyone stopped yelling and drinking and just stared as Hale and Unser stepped from the cars.

Juice's adrenaline instantly started rushing when he seen Hale, the urge to walk up and just punch him was almost too strong. He watched as Clay and Gemma got up and walked over.

He wasn't too concerned about what they wanted, he figured they had gotten a noise complaint or something, it wasn't until Gemma screamed and fell to her knees that he jumped up and ran over behind Jax. Tara was bent down holding Gemma as Unser stood there with tears in his eyes.

He motioned for Hale to finish for him, "We got a call, saying that Elle's store had been broken into. When we got there, the back door was wide open, everything had been knocked over, when we went into the front of the store we seen…the blood. Someone had been thrown into those wooden shelves, blood was smeared across the floor as we guess she tried to crawl away. We searched the entire store, she wasn't there. There was a trail of blood leading out the back door and then disappears, they probably put her in their car before speeding off."

Gemma started screaming louder and then Clay got down beside her and held her and they both started crying together.

"Any ideas who did it?" Jax asked with a raspy voice.

"No…the call we received was anonymous, nobody else seen anything." Hale said reluctantly while looking down at his hat.

Unser pulled out his handkerchief and wiped his face. "We're doing everything we can to find her Clay, and we will find her."

Jax covered his face with his hand and walked away, Tara right behind him.

Unser just nodded at Juice before getting back into the car and driving off. Hale following right behind him.

Juice couldn't believe this…this couldn't be how it ended…the last thing he said to her…No, that wasn't going to be the last words he ever said to her…He couldn't lose her like this…


	14. Part 14: Lifes a Game, But It's Not Fair

Elle woke up with such a headache that it hurt to even open her eyes. Her hands were tied behind her back, the one arm that was broken had gone numb, and she felt the dried blood down her side and face. The gag in her mouth was cutting into the corners of her lips, she tried pushing it with her tongue, but it was no use, it was too tight.

She tried pulling on the ropes around her wrists, but once again, to no avail. She started looking around the dark room she was in, the sunlight was coming through a tiny window at the far end of the room, so she could see a little bit. Her feet were tied together and she knew in order to move around, she would have to at least untie her feet. So she laid on her back, letting out a small whimper when she laid on her broken arm. Then slowly she made her working arm drag the other one down her legs, and with one cry of pain, she took her hands around her feet.

She was sweating from the pain, and she felt nauseas, but she couldn't puke…not now she told herself. She started trying to untie the knot on her ankle with one hand, she fought for what felt like ever, and just when she thought of giving up it came loose. She almost cried with joy, but she had to move fast before those men came back.

She seen something shining underneath the steps, so she stumbled over there and looked…a pocket knife! One of the guys must have dropped it on their way out. She grabbed it then went back over to the corner and sat down, sawing away at the ropes around her wrist. Within minutes she had it off and was running to the window at the far side of the room, it was a little high up, but she could squeeze out of it. With her one arm tucked into her shirt, she reached up with the other one and jumped, pulling herself up as hard as she could. She was dangling there trying to figure out how to open the window without falling back down.

Then with excruciating pain, she pushed her broken elbow down to support her, she used her good arm to push the window open enough for her to get out. Then she pushed with all her might and got the upper half of her body out. Then she kicked the rest of her way out. Once she felt the soft grass under her body she wanted to start crying, but she knew she needed to get as far away from this house as possible, quick.

So she pushed herself off the ground and started running, she thought she heard some yelling coming from the basement, but she didn't dare turn around, she ran as fast as she could.

….

Juice was laying in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He was numb, they held a search party that day, they looked everywhere, the cops were still looking, and so were most of the guys. Clay had went home to Gemma, Jax went home to hold Abel and he came back to lie in the bed and just wait on the call.

He heard someone shuffling up the stairs, he just figured it was one of the guys going to bed, so he didn't pay any attention. Until his door flew open , he sat up and his mouth fell open. Leaning against the door frame was Elle.

She was holding her arm, and there was blood all over her, her breathing was heavy and ragged and then she just fell to the floor.

He jumped up from the bed and fell beside her, pulling her head into his lap. "Elle, Elle! Can you hear me?"

He started screaming for help and a sleepy Chibs came out of his room, took one look at the scene, then ran back in his room, grabbed his cellphone and came running to help Juice.

Chibs quickly told the ambulance what happened and then he started yelling at Juice, "Alright Boy, we gotta' stop all this bleeding, give me yer shirt."

Juice quickly ripped it off and held it to the bleeding coming from her ribs, Elle whimpered and he loosened up, "No, Juice, you hafta' put pressure on it, it's gonna hurt like hell, but that's the only way," Juice nodded his head and pressed down again and this time Elle squirmed. "Lovie, it's Chibs, can ya tell me what all is hurt on ya?"

Elle just moaned for an answer, "Elle darlin' I need ya to open yer eyes for me, can you look at me lovie?" Chibs said while taking her face in between his hands and making her face him.

She started coughing and a little bit of blood trailed out onto her lip, "Is she fucking dying? What's happening Chibs?"

"She's got a punctured lung, but she needs you to stay calm boy-o. Can you do that for me, for her?"

Juice just started shaking his head, still pressing on the gash on her side, he felt the tear well up in his eyes and bit his tongue as Opie came running up the stairs.

"Oh my God, Elle!" he kneeled down beside her head.

Chibs looked up from Elle's broken arm, "She's not responding, she needs to wake up, if she doesn't gain consciousness she might fade into a coma."

Opie stood and walked around and sat beside Elle's head and laid his hand on the side of her face that wasn't bruised and started running his hand through her hair, he leaned down and started whispering to her. "Babygirl, I need you to wake up for me, can you do that? Can you open your eyes and look at me?" Nothing… "Now Elle, you have to wake up ok? I need you here, you have to stay awake for me, for Gemma, for Clay, for Jax, for Juice…"

Juice searched her face for any sign that she could hear Opie, and when nothing happened he finally let those tears he'd been holding in spill over. He heard the ambulance sirens pull into the garage, Chibs ran down to meet them. "Opie, is she going to be ok?" he knew he sounded like a child, but he really needed to know.

"I don't know, kid…"

Then the medics ran upstairs and pushed Opie and Juice away from her, they slowly laid her on the stretcher and started hurrying back down to the ambulance with her, Opie rushed after them to ride the ambulance with her.

Juice sat there and stared at his hands covered in the blood of the girl he loved…


	15. Part 15: Don't Lose Your Dinosaur

_"Jax, look at dis one I got, it's a big'un ain't it?" The 5 year old trotted up to Jax holding something in her hands. _

_ "What'cha got Ellie Mae?" Jax asked still holding on to his fishing pole and trying to see what she was holding onto so tightly in her little hands. _

_ "It's a lizzaard." She said never opening her hands but looking up at Jax with such bright eyes and the biggest smile. _

_ "Can I see it?" Opie asked peering over Jax's shoulder. _

_ "It'll get loose!" she whined, and then she giggled, "It's ticklin' my hand." _

_ "Oh c'mon Elle let us see it!" Jax begged, then very slowly she opened her hands and as soon as she did the largest salamander that Jax had ever seen came flying out from the crack in her hands, fell to the ground, and ran into the water. _

_ His jaw dropped and he looked back just as Elle jutted her bottom lip out and started to cry. "Oh no, don't cry Elle." He said pulling her into a hug, "It's ok, we'll catch another one!"_

_ "Not one dat big! I had a dinosaur and you made me lose it!" she wailed into his chest._

"Mr. Morrow?" Jax snapped out of his memory and stood up so fast to face the doctor he thought he might pass out from the head rush.

Clay and Gemma stepped forward holding onto each other for support as the doctor wiped the sweat from his brow. "She's going to make it," Gemma cried out in relief and Jax let the breath he didn't realize he was holding slip out. "She had two broken ribs, her arm was snapped in two places, and we had to put 12 stitches up her side, but other than that it's just some cuts and bruises. Your daughter's a fighter, she's very lucky that she didn't slip into a coma, she had lost a good amount of blood and her broken ribs were pushing on her lungs, restricting her oxygen intake, she's a very lucky girl. She's still asleep right now, but she should be able to go home tomorrow if no complications arise, she just needs to take it very easy."

"Can we see her?" Gemma asked through her tears.

"Yes, but she needs her rest, so try not to bother her." We all nodded our heads as he led us to the room.

She looked so fragile lying in the big bed, the dark bruise along the side of her face was a dark contrast standing out against the white sheets.

Gemma gently grasped the hand without the IV in it and kissed the top of it. "I love you baby girl." She whispered into Elle's hand.

Clay looked scared to touch her, afraid that she might break if he did, so he gently laid a kiss on her forehead and just stared at his sleeping angel.

"I better go call the boys, I'm sure they are all waiting by the phone." Jax just nodded as Clay walked out of the room to go use his phone. "Walk with me Jax"

Jax looked at Elle one last time before he followed Clay out into the hall. "She can't stay in this town until we figure out who the hell did this."

"She's not going to leave Clay, and you know it, she's as stubborn as they come."

Clay ran a hand over his face, "I have to make her go, I don't know what else to do to keep her safe, whoever did this to her wasn't finished before she escaped, they'll come back to finish the job and you know it."

"Then she can stay at the clubhouse in my old room, all the boys are there, they can't get her there, she'll be safe, we'll keep a watch going to make sure."

"I just want her to be safe, and if she doesn't leave, I guess that will be my only option…Damn she takes after her mother."

"Elle's not stupid, she won't let it happen again." Clay nodded his head. "I'll go call Opie and the rest of them, you go on back in there with her in case she wakes up, I'm sure she'll want her dad there."

"You're right…Thanks Jax."

….

"Oh for shit sakes Dad! I can get up the damn stairs by myself!" Elle complained as Clay tried to help her.

"Damnit Elle you just got out of the hospital, the doctor said take it easy!" Clay yelled back as she pushed him away.

"Yes, and unless I didn't get the memo about the rules changing and I have to walk up the stairs on my hands, I think I can make it." Clay rolled his eyes and stepped back.

By the time Elle made it to the top of the stairs her ribs were on fire and she was breathing hard, sweat rolling down her face.

"How do you feel now tough girl?" Clay barked at her as he noticed that she was struggling.

Elle shot him a mean look through slanted eyes as she leaned against the wall and watched Clay carry her things into Jax's old room.

Jax carried another bag up the stairs, "You ok, Sis?"

"Yeah, just need a second to catch my breath, broken ribs seem to have a problem with that."

Jax just laughed and carried the bag on into the room, Elle closed her eyes and tried to slow her breathing, the pain in her ribs was killing her, but she didn't want to freak the guys out by crying.

When she opened her eyes, Juice was standing in his doorway with his arms crossed watching her. He looked like shit, his eyes were bloodshot and he had dark bags under his eyes. She tried to give him a smile and winced instead as she tried to take another deep breath.

Gemma finally came up the steps with her bag of medicine, "C'mon now, you need to be laying down taking it easy, like the doctor said." She gently wrapped her arm around Elle's neck and leading her into the room.

Clay walked out into the hall and looked at Juice, "If she needs anything, you damn well better get it for her, I don't care if she needs you to sit and paint her toenails and recite a chick flick, you're going to do it."

"Anything at all" Juice said nodding his head, watching Elle walk into the room.


	16. Part 16: Straight On Till Morning

Juice was lying in the bed staring at the ceiling when he heard the bathroom door open and close, he started listening as Elle turned on the water, she was going to take a bath he decided.

A loud crash sent him flying from the bed and flinging his door open, Elle was sitting in the floor, her face red with frustration and tears were forming in her eyes as she looked up at him.

"I can't get my pants off…" she grumbled under her breath.

Juice would have laughed at her if she wouldn't have looked so upset, "Do you want me to help?" he asked biting his tongue to keep from giggling at her as she blew a piece of her long hair from out in front of her eyes.

"If you wouldn't mind…I can't get my shirt over my head either." She looked at him through slanted eyes, "If you could refrain from laughing at me, I would highly appreciate it, it's bad enough I can't get out of my clothes on my own."

Juice coughed back a laugh as he shut the door behind him and walked over to her, "Let's get you out of the floor." He said and gently lifted her and sat her on the toilet. "Lift your arm up." She threw her one up and he reached down and slowly lifted her shirt up, sliding it over her head and the one arm, then gently took it down the cast on her arm.

He tossed it in the floor and bent down and pulled her socks from her feet, throwing them onto the pile. Then he leaned over to turn the water off in the tub and turned back to her, she was looking down, as if the pale blue rug under her feet was interesting.

Juice was trying to be as much of a gentleman as possible, not staring at anything, just trying to hurry and get her undressed so he could leave.

He pulled her onto her feet and pushed her pants down, then made her sit back on the toilet as he pulled them off and tossed them aside. She reached behind her and undid her bra, Juice heard the snap come undone and he stood and turned his back to her. "Do you need help with anything else?"

"Can you help tape this plastic over my stitches?" he nodded his head and turned around, she had her arm covering her breasts as he took the piece of plastic and tape she had sitting on the sink and started to cover the stitches.

The scar on her lower abdomen caught his attention again, "Does it hurt?" he asked, nodding at the scar and adding another piece of tape to the plastic.

Elle absentmindedly lowered her hand to trace the tiny raised up scar below her belly button, "No…at least not physically…just mentally."

"How so?" he asked, concentrating on the next piece of tape, making sure he had it all covered so water wouldn't get in.

"Just reminds me how broken I am, and empty." Juice turned back around as she finished getting undressed and heard her get into the water.

"Will you stay in here with me?"

"Sure" she pulled the curtain closed and he sat down on the toilet and leaned his head back.

"Juice?"

"Yes ma'am?"

"Will you help me wash my hair?"

He got down on his knees beside the bathtub and pulled the curtain back, she had already turned to where her back was facing him and he reached over grabbing a cup that was sitting on the edge and started pouring the water on her head, wetting her hair.

"Do you ever wish you could go back and do something different?" she asked as he started shampooing her long hair.

"Every day"

She got quiet again as he rinsed the shampoo out and got a handful of conditioner, "The day I found out I was pregnant, I instantly thought of you and I cried. I remembered how we would sit around and name the kids we said we always wanted, you always made fun of me because I would come up with hundreds of different names and we only wanted two kids. You told me that I should just start a business where I named peoples babies for them…as the months went past, the thoughts of you only grew stronger…I hated myself a lot of the time. I woke up one morning and felt like my water had broken, so I called my neighbor Charlotte and she rushed me to the hospital…there was so much blood, the doctors were running around like crazy men, and I remembered lying there wondering where you were, and why couldn't you be there with me…they told me that I was broken, and that I'd never be able to have any children, that I wasn't built right for it…"

Juice just listened as he finished rinsing the conditioner from her hair and stood up, drying his hands off with the towel hanging on the rack. She stood up and he handed the towel to her, after she dried off what she could, he helped wrap her hair up, then helped her from the tub. He turned his back as she pulled on her underwear and then he helped her put on her long nightgown that she had brought in.

She turned around and faced him, "Will you please sleep with me tonight? I just don't think I'm ready to sleep alone…"

"Ok" she started limping to his room, so he followed her, turning the bathroom light off and shutting the door behind him as he walked out.

She whimpered slightly as she crawled into the bed and Juice felt it send a pain through his heart, he crawled in beside her and laid on his side looking at her. She was lying on her back, her hair still wrapped in the towel, she seemed to realize that and she tossed the towel into the floor.

She looked over at him and without saying a word he knew what she wanted, so he scooted over and wrapped his arm around her, trying to avoid hitting her stitches or her ribs.

He smiled as she let out a content sigh and let her eyes close as she snuggled into his arm, "Goodnight Juice"

"Night Elle"

Juice listened as her breathing deepened and her hear t beat slowed, he felt her head slowly fall to the side. Once he was sure that she was asleep he allowed himself to slowly follow her into the land of dreams, knowing that she was safe and sound.


	17. Part 17: Dying to Be Him

The next day Elle woke up in bed alone, smiling as the sunshine warmed her face. Her whole body ached but she could still smell Juice on the pillows.

She got up from the bed and walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth, thats when she seen the sticky note attatched to the mirror saying,

"Ran out for coffee, be back soon!"

It brought a smile to her face, she finished brushing her hair and teeth and walked into her room to get dressed.

She tossed on a black v neck and some jeans, all by herself, she was so proud. About the time she finished getting ready someone knocked on the door, "Come in!" she hollered as she finished buttoning her pants.

Opie came through the door holding a bouquet of sunflowers, "Hey Ellie Mae, how are you feeling?"

"Sore, but nothing I can't handle. Hows my shop look? Is it bad?"

"Tara and Gemma have already cleaned and replaced everything, so it looks brand new."

"Thats great! I can't wait to get back to work."

"The doc said take it easy, Elle, I don't think that means going back to work." Opie laughed.

"I don't plan on being cooped up here all the time. Sooo...yeah, that means I'm going back to work. Today actually, since my shop is repaired."

"Elle..you need to rest, but I don't even know why I'm trying to talk you out of doing something, its never worked before. I'll take first watch then."

Elle whipped around, "Watch? What do you mean watch? I'm not going to be having a babysitter with me 24/7, thats just ridiculous!" She put her one good hand on her hip and stomped her foot at him.

"Elle, these men weren't finished with you, do you really think they are going to just let you go? Do you have any idea how mad they probably are because some tiny blonde girl outsmarted them? These men aren't the kind to just let things go, they will be back, and until we find out who did this to you, you aren't going anywhere without someone with you. I let you talk me out of a lot of things, but this is one rule that you won't. I've lost Donna, I thought I was going to lose you. I refuse to lose you too. So suck it up, I'll be downstairs waiting."

With that he slammed the door and left Elle there furious.

…...

"Hey Op, what are you up to today?" Juice said as he walked through the door holding a tray of coffees in his hand.

"Getting ready to take Elle to her shop," Opie through his hands up when Juice opened his mouth to protest, "I've already tried talking her out of it, and you know how she is. So I'm on first watch, I'll call when I need someone else to come take over for me."

About that time Elle came bouncing down the steps, "Hey Juice, which one is mine?"

Before he could answer she grabbed one up and walked right past him outside, where she jumped into her car and sped off, with Opie running out after her and cussing.

…...

That night Juice came in late, he had a couple errands to run for the club and he was exhausted. He'd already heard how Elle threw the biggest fit ever to Clay over her 'babysitters' and how Clay has threatened everyone if she gets out of their site. He stumbled by her door and the light was off, so he figured she was in bed. He threw open his door and turned the light on.

"Hello Handsome."

Juice jumped at the voice and stumbled back, "Krystal?! What are you doing here? How did you even get in?"

Krystal was laying spread eagle on his bed naked, her brown hair had so much hairspray in it that even though she was sprawled across the bed, it didn't budge. She was one of the porn stars he met a couple months ago.

"That blonde girl let me in, she was really nice."

Juice slammed his door shut, "Elle let you in here? The girl thats staying in Jax's room?!"

"Yeah, I came upstairs and she was getting ready to go in her room and I stopped her and asked her if she'd let me into your room, that I wanted to surprise you. So she smiled and let me in through your bathroom. Aren't you surprised, baby?" Krystal sat up on the bed and pouted at him.

"Krystal, I'm going to need you to leave."

She scrambled off the bed and grabbed him, "Why? You've never turned me down before! I've been here waiting on you all night. The least you can do is let me stay."

"Krystal, please, I've got a lot going on, and I'm exhausted. I really just want to go to bed." Juice ran his hand down his face, Elle was going to kill him. That's all there was to it. Elle was going to kill him. So much for the progress they made, it was all going to be gone.

…...

Elle was feeling depressed, Half Sac was her guardian today, but even his goofy clumsiness couldn't bring her out of this funk.

"I'm going to walk over and get some flowers to brighten this place up some."

"Want me to come with?" He said looking up from the magazine he was reading.

"No, I'll just be across the street."

"Ok, I'll be watching you." he winked at her as she walked out into the sunshine.

Across the street she was picking out a little bouquet of wildflowers and as she paid the little man sitting there she turned around and ran right into Zobelle.

"Well good afternoon, Miss Morrow. You're looking beautiful today." He said with a crooked smirk. Elle knew she looked worse for wear, the bruise on her face had turned greens and yellow, there was nothing beautiful about it.

"Good day to you too, Mr. Zobelle. I must be getting back to my shop, nice to see you today."

"Ah yes, I'm glad to see everything was repaired, I was mighty worried about you when I seen the wreckage, I feared the worse, I'm glad you are ok. Well, good day."

With that he turned and walked back into his cigar shop, Elle involuntarily shuddered.

She knew one thing. She didn't like this guy, and she couldn't shake the feeling he was no good. Except she couldn't decide why he gave her such creeps.


	18. Part 18: Rabbit Heart

Elle hadn't spoken to Juice for weeks. He had sat on the stairs for hours waiting on her to come home, and when she did she walked past him like she didn't even see him. He'd heard her struggling in the bathroom and when he'd knock on the door, he would hear the lock on the door lock.

He knew today was the day she was supposed to be getting the cast off her arm, the stitches had already been taken out, she was meeting Tara at the hospital to get it taken care of and then heading straight to her shop to work.

He really didn't even knew what to do anymore, he thought as he stood behind the bar taking shots of jack with Chibs and Tig. He really had stuff he needed to get done today, there was cars in the garage that needed taken care of, and there was a couple runs that Clay needed done, but he didn't care. He was going to drink his bad mood away and worry about that stuff tomorrow. Clay would get over it.

The phone rang and all three of them stared at it. Finally Tig reached over and grabbed it.

He didn't even say a word, just listened and then hung up. "We got to go, that was Clay, theres some trouble with the Irish." None of them said another word, just took off outside to their bikes and left a cloud of dust in their trail.

…...

It was 2 in the morning when Juice finally got back to the club, all of them were tired, sweaty, and ready for bed. Each nodded at each other as they passed and went into their own rooms. As Juice shut his door, he immediately pulled his shirt off and unbuttoned his pants as he made his way to the bathroom, he put his ear to the door and didn't hear anything so he walked on in, turning on the light as he finished undressing. He looked at himself in the mirror, dirt coated his face, he wiped at it with his hand and just smeared it. He looked at the door behind him, that had a faint light showing underneath the door, she probably forgot to turn the lamp off. He reached over and turned the water on as hot as it'd go and he jumped in. He was lost in his thoughts when the curtain was jerked open. He jumped and went to swing before he realized who was standing there.

Elle.

She was just staring at him, "Elle, what are you doing?"

"Loookie at my arm, isn't it sexy? It's all perfect, and white, and clean, and healed." she stretched her arm out that was now cast-less and staggered towards the wall where she caught herself.

"Elle, are you drunk?"

"Just shut up and kiss me, idiot." With that she leaped into the shower and pressed her body against his, kissing him hard.

Juice grabbed her waist and held her upright, the night shirt she was wearing was soaked to her body and it drove Juice wild, he pulled it over her head and tossed it aside as she continued to kiss him and he kissed her back like he'd never kissed before.

He buried his hand in her wet hair and used the other hand to press her against the wall, where they made love and when the water went cold, he picked her up and carried her wet body to his bed, where they continued until the sun came up and they were both too tired to move anymore.

…...

Elle woke up with a pounding headache and a sore body, but the world stopped when she realized where she was. The floodgates opened and she remembered everything about last night, she slowly lifted her head to look at him. His head was turned slightly to the side, his long black eyelashes curled against his tan cheek, his mouth was set in a slight smile, she reached up and ran her hand along his collar bone, and then down his hard chest, his dark tan making her look like a sheet of notebook paper. He had his arm wrapped firmly around her waist, as if he was afraid to let her go.

Very slowly she leaned up and kissed his sexy neck, and then continued to kiss along his jaw bone until he turned his head to her and opened those beautiful eyes to look at her.

"Good Morning." he smiled.

"Morning." she smiled back, she felt so warm and content, as if she could lay there forever and never grow tired of it, but this was the real world, and they both needed to get to work, cause they last thing they needed was Clay to come knocking on the door.

"Want to join me for a shower?" he asked, giving her that sneaky grin she loved so much. She nodded her head as they both jumped out of the bed and ran for the shower. She turned the water on and climbed in first, throwing her arms around his neck when he did step in and kissing him deeply.

When the kiss ended, he leaned his forehead against hers and stared into her eyes, "Where is this going Elle?"

"We'll find out." she said kissing him again, she knew that wasn't the answer he wanted, but hell if she knew where this was going, she just knew she didn't want it to stop. Ever.


	19. Part 19: Grizzly Diaries

Elle was walking back to her shop after grabbing a milkshake for her and Opie from the small dinner two stores up from hers. The smile on her face was permanent, she had already tried to wipe it from her face to keep Opie from getting suspicious, but it didn't work, he kept asking about it, but she'd just smile at him and said she had some amazing dreams last night, he didn't need to know they really happened.

The bell rang as she walked back into the shop, Opie looked up from the book he was reading and smiled at her as she handed him his milkshake. "Thanks, kid."

"Welcome." she said as she walked back around the counter and picked up her book and started reading where she left off.

Blissfully ignorant to the fact everything was about to change, and that smile was about to be wiped off her face.

…...

"Excuse me, Deputy, I'm looking for a Elle Morrow, I was told she moved here a while back and I've been trying to find her, I was told you'd be able to help me by the girl at the desk."

Hale looked up to the guy standing in his door way, he had black hair that he had strategically brushed back out of his face, a strong dimple in his chin, the wrinkles around his green eyes made him look older, and very tired. He was wearing a plaid button down and a pair of jeans and was gripping a hat in his hands like it was a nervous gesture.

"And what do you need with Miss Morrow?"

…...

Elle was sitting on a bar stool laughing at the game of pool that Juice and Jax were currently playing, she couldn't tell who was cheating more. Bobby was propped up beside her laughing and giving pointers to Half Sac who was playing against Tig, and losing miserably. Opie was propped up on the other side of her drinking a beer and smiling at the whole scenario, everything was back to normal, like it used to be before she left. Opie wasn't stupid, he knew why they were both so happy, hell, everyone could see the glow they both let off.

The headlights of a car pulling up caught everyones attention, "Don't worry guys, I'll check it out." Op said as he pushed himself off the bar and walked out the door.

A fancy little car he couldn't name parked in front of him, a guy got out of the drivers door and he reached up and pulled the baseball cap off his head and nodded to Opie as he read the name on the garage. "I was told I could find Elle Morrow here, is she?"

"What do you need with her?" Opie said crossing his arms and giving this guy a good once over, he was pretty stocky, like he lifted weights, but much shorter than himself.

"Well, that's my business. Look, buddy, I drove a long way to get here, and if someone doesn't let me talk with my WIFE soon, I'm going to go back and get Deputy Hale to come back here with me."

Opie still couldn't breathe, he had to take a couple deep breaths before he could speak again, "You're wife? You're Jason Brands?"

"Yes I am, I was told my wife has taken her maiden name back, or at least she didn't want anyone around here to know about me, right?" Opie noticed the tick he was getting on the left side of his face.

"Op, what the hell is taking you so long?" Elle said as she bounced out the door, and thats where she stopped dead in her tracks, staring with her mouth wide open and eyes wide.

"Hello Wife."

Elle slowly walked over to him and reached up and touched his face, the other hand clasped over her mouth. "They told me you were dead."

"Well, I'm not." Opie did not like the way he was looking at Elle, like at any second he was going to break her.

"JAX!" Opie yelled back to the clubhouse. Elle still hadn't said another word, but had dropped her hand by her side and just stared at him, like he would fade away if she looked away.

All the guys poured out of the clubhouse and stood by Opie with confused faces. Jason stared at them all with disgust, "I see that you have been having fun while I was away."

"Who the hell are you?" Jax demanded, looking back and forth between Elle who had paled to look like the ghost of a man that was standing in front of her, her eyes were haunted.

"I'm Elle's husband, I've came to get my wife. Get into the car, Elle." when Elle just continued to stand there staring, he reached over and grabbed her arm and yanked her towards the car.

All of the guys stepped forwards, Jax spoke first, "You let go of my sister, you are highly outnumbered, and if you grab her like that again I'll make sure you lose all of those fingers."

"Jax, don't." without looking at anybody she reached over and opened the door to the car.

"Elle?" Juice's voice was raspy and desperate.

Elle looked up to him, her eyes were full of pain as she stared at him, speechless of what to say. "GET IN THE CAR!" she jumped when Jason yelled, but she gave one last look to Juice before she climbed into the car and shut her door. Jason sped off out of the parking lot and down the street.

Juice turned and walked back to the clubhouse, punching a hole into the door as he walked past.

…...

Elle fell into the floor as soon as the door of the hotel room was flung open, she was sobbing as she stared up at the man she married.

"Get up, you're pathetic." he said as he stepped over her and shut the door behind him.

She wiped the tears from her face, "How did you find me?"

"Easy, Jessica, she was all sorts of excited when I came back into town. She couldn't wait to get her present for being such a good girl, but how she ended up finding you in this hell hole I'll never know. Having fun being a biker whore?"

"You were supposed to be dead."

He laughed, "You really believed that dumbass? God, Elle, you are stupid, anyway, I didn't come here just for you. I could careless what happens to your ass, I was sent here to find you. They figured nothing could get you away from that shit ass club except for me, and they were right."

"Who is 'they'?"

"Oh, you've met them before, Elle. You didn't know I was a part of LOAN did you? How cute." He laughed as the door opened and Elle watched the men without the masks this time came walking into the room.


	20. Part 20: Bang Bang Gorilla

They had Elle tied to a chair and had broken all of her fingers trying to get her to talk about Clays gun trading, they didn't believe that she was in the dark on the whole thing, being Clay's daughter and all.

AJ stood up after he finished tying her hands behind her back, her hands were numb, her fingers were twisted in ways they shouldn't be and swollen twice their normal size. "Well Jason, I'm gonna step outside to smoke. See if you can get some answers out of your 'Wife'."

Jason laughed and walked around to where he was facing Elle. The tears had long dried on her face, she was just pissed now. The pain was there, but the anger was blocking most of the pain out.

"So hun, why don't you tell me about your dad, and we will let ya go?"

Elle chuckled, "Oh please," she looked up into his eyes, "So where did you go? You've been 'dead' for awhile now, why reappear now?"

Jason smiled and leaned back on his heels, "Well, the feds were watching me pretty closely. So Boss thought it'd be easier for me to play dead than get busted. Simple."

"Beating the shit out of your pregnant wife and then supposedly driving yourself off a cliff? How clever."

"Yeah, I was just supposed to disappear, but I thought I'd take you down with me. Get rid of all my ties. You were supposed to die, but sadly, here we are. I was in South America when I got a call from Boss and said he needed me back here. Said he figured out who you were, said that we could use you to get Clay to join up. Trouble was, I had a hard time figuring out where you'd ran off too, since I was too scared to get on a phone and alert the FEDS I was still alive. Luckily I ran into that whore and she spilled everything."

"What took you so long to get here?"

"Oh, I had some unfinished business to handle first."

AJ walked back in then, "Boss wants us to send Clay a souvenir. What do you want to cut off of her?"

…...

They were all sitting around the table, but no one was really talking. They had filled Clay in on everything and nobody really knew what else to say, Elle had gotten into the car willingly. She looked scared shitless, but she was willing.

So now the question was, how was he still alive? Why had Elle lied?

Basically, what the hell was going on? No one knew.

Gemma was outside trying Elles cellphone when she walked back inside carrying a package wrapped in brown paper with a white bow on top.

"Clay, some kid just walked up and handed this to me, said it was really important that you got it right away." She handed it over and stood there watching as Clay opened it up.

"No.." He dropped the box to the floor and fell to his knees and covered his face with his hands.

Jax bent down and picked the box up, he felt his adrenaline start to rush and his heart stop at the same time. He knelt over and puked into the trashcan.

"What is it?!" Gemma screamed.

"They have Elle.." Jax sat the box on the table, inside there was a polaroid of Elle tied up and gagged. They were holding her by her hair to make her hold her head up to face the camera. Her nose was flattened to her face, her left eye swollen shut, and blood was pouring from her mouth and soaking the gag. There was also a ponytail of her hair, blood dried in it making her normal blonde waves look rusted. Then the very last item in the box was her pinky finger, with a delicate pink bow around it with a note attached. "We should talk, Mr. Morrow."

"They're dead." Jax took off out the door with all the boys right behind him.


	21. Part 21: Poison & Wine

Elle was starting to come too when she could hear them shuffling around.

"Where are we meeting them?"

"Are we taking her too?"

"Nah, we should leave her hidden."

"They wouldn't shoot her though."

"They won't shoot us if they won't be able to find her without us alive."

"Let's take her, then we'll just shoot her."

Elle felt them pick her up off the chair and throw her over their shoulder, she considered fighting back, but she knew she was far too weak to do any real damage. They tossed her into the back of a car and she was starting to really wake up. She had to figure out something or else she was going to die and so was people that she loved.

…...

The boys were sitting on their bikes when they seen the headlights pulling up.

They all rose up off their bikes and got their guns ready, Jax stepped in front of all the others beside of Clay.

Ethan Zoebelle stepped out first and held his hands out, "Finally, we talk now."

"Where's my daughter?" Clay thundered out.

"Oh, well let's have our talk first. Shall we?" he smiled

Jason stepped out of the car and Jax pulled his gun out, and he wasn't the only one.

Jason grinned at Jax, "Now Now boys, let's not get too hostile, you don't want to hit these cars, might hit your precious whore if you shoot."

"You have my daugher?! Let me see her right now!" Clay had his gun pointed right at Zoebelle, rage was pouring out of every pore he had.

Juice was shaking, he was seeing nothing but red his gun aiming at Jason, he was itching to pull the trigger and shoot the man between the eyes. Just as he was inching towards the trigger the back door to the SUV opened and Elle was thrown from the door onto the ground. Her hands were still bound behind her so she landed on her face, Clay went to rush to her when AJ stepped out from the seat with a pistol and hauled her up by hair holding the gun to her head.

"Don't come close or her brains will cover this ground before you can even blink."

Everyone took a step back, Juice was staring at Elle, and she was staring at him then she looked at Jax. They seemed to share a moment and then with the slightest motion that you would've missed if you had blinked, she nodded her head.

Then all of the sudden Elle dropped to her knees and kicked her leg up into AJ's groin, sending him to the ground.

Guns started going off and everyone was ducking for cover. Jason had dove behind the SUV shooting.

Juice was trying to hit Jason but keep an eye on Elle too, who was struggling on the ground with AJ.

…...

As soon as AJ hit the ground Elle knew she had to get the gun from him, she struggled to get to his arm that was holding it when he started to sit up and he grabbed her foot and she kicked back with her other one and kicked him in the face, she saw blood fly and knew she'd hit what she wanted to, so she kicked again harder and he let go of her. She then kicked his hand holding the gun and sent the gun skidding under the SUV.

The other SUV sped off but guns were still exploding all around her, AJ was laying there not moving so she pushed herself up onto her knees and used the SUV to finish pushing herself up all the way. The guns stopped so suddenly it startled her, she knew the fight was over and she knew they'd won.

"Elle!" Clay yelled out and she just ran. She wanted her Dad, she wanted Jax, she wanted Opie, but most of all, she wanted Juice to hold her. She wanted to tell him she loved him, explain why she left.

She was almost to Clay when two more gunshots rang out. She stopped. There was screaming and yelling and more gunshots, but it was like they were so far away.

It was like everyone was moving in slow motion, then she looked down and blood was soaking into her shirt, and the pain started. It was like fire, it spread from her stomach and spread through out her body and she screamed and fell to the ground.

…...

Juice felt his world stop, hearing the shots and seeing Elle freeze. He knew. He ran to her, getting to her right as Clay caught her.

"Call for help!" Juice screamed and he knelt on the other side of her, Clay was crying and mumbling things that Juice couldn't understand.

He pulled his knife out and cut her gag and the bind on her hands. She looked up at him and smiled, she was laying here dying and she was SMILING.

"Elle, Baby, I need you to hold on, ok? Help is on the way, you have to hold on ok?" He was holding her head and she was looking at him like she was soaking in every detail of his face.

"I'm...so...sorry." she coughed out, blood trickling out the side of her mouth and running down the side of her face.

"Shhh, just rest baby, just hold on."

She screamed again as Chibs applied pressure to the wounds on her stomach.

"Juice, I love you..I always have, I'm so sorry for everything. I really am, just please forgive me."

"Don't talk like that, Elle. Don't you dare talk like that, you are not leaving me, I won't let you, you hear me?"

Juice looked up and everyone was standing there, crying. He looked back down at Elle as she reached up and touched the side of his face, tears were leaking from her eyes.

"Tell me you forgive me, please.."

"Elle, I forgive you, for everything, but you can't go, you listen to me, I love you, I need you, if you go, I won't survive it. You can't leave me again, I'm tired of losing you. You have to stay here with me," Juice was sobbing now, here was his world, laying in his arms, dying, and there was nothing he could do, he heard the ambulances then and could see the red lights shining bright, "Look Elle, the help is here, baby, so just hold on ok? You're going to make it."

"It's cold, Juice, hold me." she was shivering and Juice pulled her close to his body. The ambulance stopped and it was a blur, they took her from him and she had stopped moving. They started working on her as the cops started pushing them all back to give the guys some room to work on her, but she wasn't breathing and neither was Juice.

"Let's get her on the truck, MOVE!" They lifted her onto a stretcher and ran for the ambulance, Juice tried to go with them but Hale stopped him, they shot off in the dark and left him standing there.

"We got Zoebelle and Jason Brands, they're going away for a long time."

It didn't matter, not if Elle wasn't here to celebrate...


	22. Part 22: The End

Juice's heart was beating out of his chest, this was the most nervous he'd ever been in his entire life. There was a party going on outside of the club, he could hear the music in his room, he needed to go join in, but he was so nervous he didn't know if he could make it down there without vomiting on his shoes.

He'd already taken 3 cold showers hoping that it would calm him down, but he was wrong. Tig walked up the steps and stood in his door, "You alright man?"

"Yeah, I'll be down in just a second."

Tig nodded and walked back down, Juice wiped his hand over his face and stood up and walked down the stairs after him.

Once he stepped outside, any nervousness he had instantly subsided when Elle seen him and smiled her beautiful smile. She was standing over beside Gemma, her once long blonde hair was cut short, but it just made her beautiful smile stand out.

When he got to her, he grabbed her hand and led her over in front of everybody.

"Excuse me everybody, can I please get your attention?" Elle looked around, confused, as everybody turned and looked at them, smiles going ear to ear.

When she turned back around to Juice to ask what was going, he had dropped to one knee.

He reached over and grabbed her hand, the other hand was covering her mouth as her eyes filled with tears, "Elle Morrow, I've loved you since we were kids, and I'll never stop loving you. I lost you once, and you came back, we are destined to be together. I almost lost you for good, but you still came back to me. So I think we need to make this official, so you can't leave me ever again, so Elle, will you marry me?"

She screamed and jumped into his arms, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"


End file.
